State of non-shock

Did you notice that the first lady of Israel recently agreed to a
plea deal in a fraud case
in which she was accused of
ordering $96,000 worth of meals from high-end restaurants rather than using the
cook at the prime minister’s residence to prepare her food? In doing so, she
violated the regulations that prevent those living in the residence from
ordering meals from the outside when there is a cook on staff.

Sara Netanyahu admitted in court that she misused state funds. She
now has a criminal record. Yes, the first lady of Israel used taxpayer
dollars to order almost $100,000 in takeout food from fancy eateries and we
don’t even notice. Yes, the first lady of Israel now has a criminal record and
it doesn’t faze us in the least.

Did you
notice that we recently celebrated the 90th anniversary of the birth of Anne Frank?
Judaism doesn’t have saints but if we did she would be one. Imagine the impact
this young woman, murdered when she was but 15, has had on the world, how many
people have read, been affected by the incredibly eloquent words of her
incredibly poignant diary.

One would think
if there was one person who would be immune from being made fun of it would be
Anne Frank. But evidently not. So much has decency left the world, so much are we
beyond being shocked by anything that the Harvard Lampoon, a satirical magazine
published at this country’s most prestigious university, whose students are considered
the smartest of them all, actually published an image of Anne Frank’s face on
the body of a voluptuous woman in a bikini. The text accompanying the doctored
photo read “Gone Before Her
Time: Virtual Aging Technology Shows Us What Anne Frank Would Have Looked Like
if She Hadn’t Died.” Also: “Add this to your list of reasons the Holocaust
sucked.”

And
if that wasn’t nauseating enough, an episode of
the new Netflix series “Historical Roasts” mocked Anne Frank with one-liners. Among
the roasters of Anne Frank, played by actress Rachel Feinstein, were Adolf
Hitler (Gilbert Gottfried) and President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Jon Lovitz).
All three performers are Jewish.

“Everyone knows you as a hero and a best-selling author, but to me
you’ll always be little number 825060,” Gottfried as Hitler says to Anne. He
also says, “Of all the accounts that I’ve read, Anne, your book is by far the
most flammable.”

Anne’s character says life “sucked” in the attic, so, “I made
dirty jokes, I mocked things, and through all that pain, I still laughed
because that’s what the Jews do.” She calls on viewers to contact Netflix
“and ask them why there are 5,000 documentaries about Hitler and none about
me.”

I
quote this filth in the hope it will shock you, but I am not counting on it. We
are all today shockproof.

I have for
years warned about the increasing disunity that is infecting the Jewish
community. It’s gotten worse and worse year after year to the point we now just
take it in stride. Indeed, disunity so much grips the Jewish world that Israel,
for the first time in its history, has been forced to hold two elections in one
year, one just months after the other, because Jews who seem to have so much in
common couldn’t come to an agreement.

After the first
election, the right wing parties had won 65 of 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s
parliament, a clear majority. And so all they had to do was work out a coalition
agreement between them. Easy, since they so much believe in the same things. Routine,
in that it’s happened after every Israeli election ever held.

But not this
time. This time even those on the same side of the political spectrum, Jews who
have so much in common, could not find common ground. Instead they focused on
the differences between them and in the end could not find a way to work things
out. And so Israel is having two elections in one year, which should be a flashing
red light of how bad disunity has become but which instead we just take in
stride.

And so it is
with the betrayal, backbiting, game playing, double crossing that is so much a
part of Israeli politics. It’s become so pervasive that we aren’t shocked in
the least by it.

And so you have
former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who used to be the head of the Labor party, meeting
secretly with Yair Lapid to talk about starting their own party. This comes
just months after Lapid joined his party with Benny Gantz’s party and after together
they did incredibly well in the election, winning 35 seats, the same as Bibi. And
yet just months later, Lapid is looking to ditch Gantz in the hope of a better
deal with Barak who himself was just weeks ago talking about running again to
be leader of the Labor party. Jews behaving in such an underhanded, scheming
way and yet it doesn’t shock us.

Nor are we
shocked that Israel’s Supreme Court chief justice accused the country’s new justice
minister of fomenting anarchy. Yes, anarchy. Israeli Supreme Court chief
justice Esther Hayut said that after Amir Ohana suggested that not every high
court ruling must be enforced if it goes against his view of what is needed to
keep citizens safe.

Read that
sentence again. Israel’s chief law enforcement officer said that if he doesn’t
like a Supreme Court ruling he doesn’t have to enforce it.

To which Hayut
responded that “every litigant can now, with the blessings of the justice minister,
choose which judgment to uphold and which to not. I want to say only one thing
about this: This is the short road to anarchy.”

Shocking, right?
No, not really. After all, Bibi appointed Ohana not because he’s qualified to
be minister of justice of the Jewish state but because he is a Bibi loyalist
who supports legislation that would grant the prime minister immunity from
prosecution while in office.

Oh, by the way,
Netanyahu is facing indictment in at least three corruption cases against him.
Something else that should be shocking, but isn’t.

And then we
have a decision by the Israeli government that one would think is shocking.
Israel and the United States are best buddies, the U.S. has done a whole lot in
support of Israel, and right wingers would say that since Trump assumed office,
this country has done an amazing amount for Israel.

And yet though
this country is in a major trade war with China, is concerned about China’s
hostile intentions toward this country, Israel is in the process of making a
big financial deal with China despite the United States really not wanting it
to.

It’s
so serious that even the spineless cowards of the Republican-led Senate are
upset by it. Indeed, a major spending bill in the Senate includes a veiled
warning to Israel not to allow China to run one of its ports.

The
National Defense Authorization Act includes a “sense of the Senate” passage
stating that “the United States has an interest in the future forward presence
of United States naval vessels at the Port of Haifa in Israel but has serious
security concerns with respect to the leasing arrangements of the Port of Haifa
as of the date of the enactment of this Act; and should urge the Government of
Israel to consider the security implications of foreign investment in Israel.”

The reference is to the Shanghai International Port Group, which
under a deal with Haifa is set to operate its port for 25 years starting in
2021. The U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet often docks at Haifa. Successive
administrations and leaders of both parties see China as a security threat and
are wary of any deals that facilitate its access to U.S. security.

And yet Israel is making a deal with China to run its port in
Haifa. So uncaring is this for its good friend the United States that it was
criticized even by Mark Dubowitz, the director of the Foundation for the
Defense of Democracies, a pro-Israel think tank. “Israeli officials have to
wake the hell up,” Dubowitz, who has consulted with top lawmakers and with the
Trump administration on Iran policy. “This is serious and Israel’s strongest
supporters are losing their patience.”

Should be shocking but Israel making nice with China, doing all
kinds of financial deals with China, even when the U.S. has asked it not to, is
nothing new, nothing shocking.

And then we have the words of an Israeli diplomat that are unlike
any that Israeli diplomats to this country have ever said out loud. Diplomats
are supposed to be, well, diplomatic, be very careful with their words. Israeli
envoys to this country are not supposed to get involved in party politics, because
one of Israel’s greatest assets in this country has been the bipartisan nature
of its support, with both Democrats and Republicans supportive of Israel and so
no matter which party is in power at any given moment, support for Israel stays
the same.

And yet we just had Israel’s ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer
politicizing
support for Israel in a talk to the Republican Jewish Coalition. “There has been, for 40 years, a gap between
Republicans and Democrats in their support for Israel,” he said. “This
predates, by decades, Trump, Netanyahu, Obama and any other reason that
Democrats would cite.” He noted “the enormous rise in support for Israel among
Republicans. However, there is a rise in the American left-wing of anti-Israel
sentiment. These are the same people that don’t believe America is a force for
good …”

Israel’s
envoy to America is supposed to appeal to both parties, not favor one over the
other. Though considering all that Dermer has done since he got here, such as
colluding with the Republicans to have Bibi address Congress to slam Obama’s Iran
polity without even letting Obama know, it’s nothing shocking.

I
could go on with the shocking non-shocking things taking place, but I’m almost
out of space and so can’t really get into fact that Bibi just appointed to his
Cabinet someone who believes Israel should be ruled by Torah law like in the
days of King David, perhaps not noticing that Israel’s current leader is not
exactly King David. For one thing, King David never got indicted and his wife
never had a criminal record.

So
let’s just leave it that what is most shocking about the Jewish world today is
how not shocked we are by all the shocking things going on.

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1 Commenton "State of non-shock"

I am a second generation Chicago Jew but came on aliyah in 1973.
During the time I have lived here, I’ve, thank G-d, built a large family and served in the army reserves for 28 years. All of my sons and son in law have and do serve in the reserves or professional army. In other words we are very rooted here in Israel.
I read your column on line and respect your right to voice any opinion which you have, even if I don’t agree.
I notice that you sitting in Chicago can voice week after week what here in Israel happens and I admit that we are far from perfect like those sitting in the “Windy City”.
However, I fail to see your warnings to your fellow Jews of the rise antisemitism in Chicago and in America.
Is it all connected to Trump?
I remember when I was 21 there were a lot of incidents, in many ways, of Jew hatred.
Maybe you should be the ostrich who pulls his head out of the sand and call to your readers to get out while the going is still good.
Maybe instead of worrying how Sarah Netenyahu spend my money (which isn’t good) you should worry about the future of your community.